﻿ON THE CHINESE. 373 



evenofsolearnedaman cannot support; and, since rea- 

 son grounded on facts can alone decide such aquestion, 

 we have a right to demand clearer evidence and stronger 

 arguments than any that he has yet adduced. The 

 hieroglyphics of Egypt hear, indeed, a strong resem- 

 blance to the mythological sculptures and paintings of 

 India, but seem wholly dissimilar to the symbolical 

 system of the Chinese, which might easily have been 

 invented (as they assert) by an individual, and might 

 very naturally have been contrived by the first Chinas, 

 or. outcast Hindus, who either never knew, or had 

 forgotten, the alphabetical characters of their wiser 

 ancestors. As to the table and bust of Isis, they 

 seem to be given up as modern forgeries ; but, if they 

 were indisputably genuine, they would be nothing to 

 the purpose ; for the letters on the bust appear to have 

 been designed as alphabetical ; and the fabricator of 

 them (if they really were fabricated in Europe) was un- 

 commonly happy, since two or three of them are ex- 

 actly the same with those on a metal pillar yet standing 

 in the north of India, In Egypt, if we can rely on the 

 testimony of the Greeks, who studied no language 

 but their own, there were two sets of alphabetical 

 characters; the one popular , like the various letters 

 used in our Indian provinces; and the other sacer- 

 dotal, Ijke the De-vanagari, especially that form of 

 it which we see in the Peda ; besides which they had 

 two sorts of sacred sculpture ; the one simple, like 

 the figures of Buddha and the three Ramas ; and the 

 other allegorical, like the images of Ganesa, or Di- 

 vine Wisdom, and Isani, or Nature, with all their em- 

 blematical accompaniments ; but the real character of 

 the Chinese appears wholly distinct from any Egyptian 

 writing, either mysterious or popular: and, as to the 

 fancy of M. cle Guignes, that the complicated symbols 

 of China were at first no more than Phenipian mono- 

 grams, let us hope that he has abandoned so wild a 

 conceit, which he started probably with no other view 

 than to display his ingenuity and learning. 



Bbz 



